About me

I was born in the 90s. I live in south east Wales in the United Kingdom. I have a wide variety of interests, including in the areas of computing, electrical engineering, politics, amateur radio, aviation and sailing. I also enjoy:

• good food (whether it be French, Italian, Indian, Thai or just traditional British cooking done well);
• fine (red) wines;
• reading – mostly non-fiction, but I also enjoy the occasional whodunnit;
• art – various styles, but the Dutch Golden Age and Flemish Baroque painters are probably my favourites;
• music – I have eclectic tastes, everything from pop and soft rock to classical music (particularly early music and the Baroque – I’m less keen on the Classical and Romantic periods), electronic music (particularly synthwave and vaporwave) and a little jazz;
• theatre – think less Shakespeare or Marlowe, I’m afraid, and more Noël Coward and Tom Stoppard;
• architecture, as long as it isn’t modern (although I do like some Art Deco architecture), post-modern or contemporary (which is soulless save for those designs mimicking previous, good styles); and
• travel.

My politics are conservative – broadly what may be considered late High Toryism, although like all things in life there are nuances. Despite this, I often find that after scratching the surface I am more laissez faire in attitude (if not in philosophy) than many self-professed “liberals”, especially outside whatever happens to be the progressive Zeitgeist.

Religiously, I am an agnostic, but recently I have been attending an Orthodox church.

Finally, my name is not really Valeoak, y’know? Yes, I know that my friends and even some good acquaintances would quickly recognise me in the description above, I am not afraid of being discovered by those who already know me well. But for various reasons, I prefer this pseudonymity.